Dr. Caitriona Henchion:

I will answer Deputy Kelleher's question on the issue of women who might present with suicidal ideation. In the first instance if they were already attending a psychiatric service they would be encouraged immediately and facilitated to liaise with that psychiatric service before making any full decision. If somebody presented who was not in contact with any service we would seek, if possible, to liaise with her GP to try to arrange for her to have appropriate care before she would make a decision. In the event where somebody is absolutely certain, has already come to a decision and does not wish to do any of these things, it is an individual case of trying to add up what is in that person's best interest. Overall our idea is to try to liaise with psychiatric or general practice services to assess a woman and help her with her mental illness.

To answer Deputy Ó Caoláin on whether women might still choose to travel, this will be an individual choice and some women would still choose to travel even if they felt they might meet the criteria because they might not want to have the delay or the problem of going through the assessment. Other women in that position who cannot afford to travel would certainly be very much able to be facilitated by the service.